Now commentators and analysts are debating why, after years on the back burner, education is suddenly the issue changing our political landscape. Yes, some parents are invested in controversies specific to their districts — masking policies, critical race theory, sexually explicit materials. But suggesting that “school board moms” are only, or even primarily, focused on these issues is an inaccurate distraction.

Our movement is about something much more profound. Frustrated by an education system that has long put powerful interests above the well-being of students, parents are finally reclaiming our natural right to direct the education, upbringing and care of our children. Two years ago, few would have imagined that schools would become the next hot-button political topic. But by spring 2020, the covid-19 pandemic had children across America distance-learning at their kitchen tables. Parents were suddenly within earshot of teachers’ lessons. Many were astonished to find that, instead of being simply taught reading, writing and arithmetic, their kids were being fed lessons on highly divisive topics of questionable academic benefit.

While districts devote classroom time to the latest ed-school fads, such as examining students’ “white male privilege” or instructing kindergartners about gender identity, test scores in reading and math recently declined for the first time in a half century, while achievement gaps by race and gender are growing wider.

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